Fruit Fly by Josh Silver review: An incredible novel that deserves to be celebrated

Fruit Fly by Josh Silver: The review

Dark, unsettling and at times laugh out loud funny, Fruit Fly by Josh Silver is unlike anything I’ve read before, and it’s instantly earned a place in my all-time favourites. After loving Silver’s YA Traumaland last year, Fruit Fly has been on my most anticipated reads list, and somehow it’s exceeded all of my expectations.

“Go gay, go sad, go dark.” That’s the advice that Mallory gets from Reddit when she’s looking for help on how to write her next bestseller. And so, gay, sad and dark she goes. First stop: infiltrating Grindr to pretend to be a gay man.

In doing so, she encounters Leo, a young addict who has resorted to selling himself to make ends meet. Mallory wants to help Leo, but she’s also absolutely fascinated by his life. He’s her perfect muse.

But Mallory has a hidden darkness all of her own; her life might look perfect to Leo, but it’s far from it. They’re very different – but also, in many ways, the same. Or so Mallory likes to tell herself.

Told from the perspective of both Mallory and Leo, Silver has perfectly captured two very different voices and writes them with such ease and believability. Both are incredibly flawed, but they wouldn’t be as fascinating if they were any other way. Their personalities leap off the page, a constant contrast to each other that works beautifully.

It’s twisty, it’s shocking, it’s unsettling – but it’s also utterly captivating, and you will not be able to look away.

This is the type of book that deserves to be celebrated. For its incredible writing, for Silver’s undeniable talent, for the LGBTQ representation, for redefining genre and not being afraid to be bold. God, I loved every minute of it.

I highly recommend the audio, too: The narrators are *incredible* and put in a performance of a lifetime.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an eARC and providing access to the audiobook. Hardback purchased by me.